Itunes syncing issues

So I have a 4s and and iPad 1. Both have iOS 5 and are setup to backup to iCloud. I figured I should delete all the apps in iTunes itself because I don't need them anymore. They are just back ups on the computer and are taking up space. If I need to redownload them the cloud will do it or i go in previous purchases on the device. But i forgot!! I still need to use iTunes on the mac to still get my music and the podcast i want. But if I try to sync to just get my music it will either delete all the apps on my device or make me transfer all of the apps back into iTunes on the computer. WTF!!! Is there any way around this. I don't need my apps on the computer. They don't do me any good there right now. Only if I was using file sharing through iTunes. Witch i am not